In accordance with the requirements of citation databases, proper citation of publications appearing in our Quarterly should include the full name of the journal in Polish and English without Polish diacritical marks, i.e. "Eksploatacja i Niezawodnosc – Maintenance and Reliability".

Task „Implementation of procedures ensuring the originality of scientific papers published in the quarterly „Eksploatacja i Niezawodność – Maintenance and Reliability” financed under contract 532/P-DUN/2018 from the funds of the Minister of Science and Higher Education for science dissemination activities.

Hybrid vehicles allow an increase in the powertrain efficiency thanks to their design. One such factor is the use of increased voltage supplying electric motors to the voltage supplying the high voltage battery. The battery voltage is increased several times in the inverter (boost) system to increase the final electric power supplied to the electric motor. The article presents the possibilities of using such a voltage boost in urban and non-urban driving conditions. The tests were performed on the latest generations of parallel hybrid drive systems in Lexus NX 300h and Toyota RAV4 hybrid vehicles. It has been shown that the boost system is used in about 30–40% of the urban drive distance (up to 20% of the driving time). The power supply voltage boost of the electric motors of both vehicles is used throughout the entire engine speed range of these machines at high torque values. Research has shown that the maximum voltage gain – approximately three times (up to 650 V) – is within the maximum torque range of the electric motors and allows for doubling the torque generated by the drive.

Evaluation of the injectors operational wear process based on optical fuel spray analysis

The diagnostics of combustion engine components currently requires the integration of many technical and scientific fields in order to quickly and accurately locate faults or pinpoint the causes of malfunction. This article analyzes the wear of injectors based on the geometric indicators of the fuel spray. Using a number of available parameter data, a selection has been made to best judge the wear of injectors in their operating conditions. Optical fuel spray tests were used to assess the injector wear. Various geometric indicators of the fuel stream have been presented, indicating their diagnostic utility and applicability. In conclusion, it was found that the current injection systems require the combination of mechanical injector diagnostics and advanced optical fuel spray diagnostics.

Assessment of possible use of the ionization signal for the combustion process diagnostics in a spark-ignition combustion engine powered by natural gas

The ionization signal, which is a result the presence of ions and electrons in the cylinder space of the internal combustion engine, is affected by many factors, including: temperature, pressure, fuel mixture composition, fuel type, presence of exhaust gases and others. The shape of the signal changes to a large extent from cycle to cycle, which indicates the stochastics of the combustion process. Nevertheless, its analysis provides a lot of useful information, such as the location of the maximum pressure or the maximum heat release rate. Using these signals allows supplementing the limited engine control systems of the combustion process in internal combustion engines. The paper presents a comparative analysis of the gas ionization current signal in the cylinder and the variable pressure at fixed operating points of a single-cylinder, four-stroke engine powered by natural gas. The analysis allowed to determine the relationship between the positions of the maximum thermal ionization signal value and of the maximum combustion pressure value. Additionally the relationship between the position of the maximum thermal fraction derivative and the maximum heat release rate was established.